South Africa's chance to dethrone England: Series Preview

South Africa will have their eyes on the No. 1 spot when they take on England in a three Test series. In what promises to be an enthralling series, with world-class players brimming up both sides, the Proteas have a fairly good chance of dethroning England as even a 1-0 win will take them to the top position. The hosts on the other hand, will be keen to prevent that from happening and maintain what is a fairly successful record against South Africa at home.

South Africa in England - a brief history:

Ever since South Africa's re-admission, they have toured England four times - twice drawing the series, winning once and losing once. South Africa's first tour to England since their re-entry was in 1994. The Kepler Wessels-led side managed to defeat Michael Artherton's men by 356 in the opening match at Lord's while the second match was a draw. Riding on a dream spell by Devon Malcom (9/57) in the second innings, England managed a comfortable 8 wicket win as the series ended in a draw. South Africa's next visit to England was in 1998 when Hansie Cronje's men faced Alec Stewart's team in a series of 5 Tests. South Africa ended up on the losing side with England managing a 2-1 finish. South Africa next toured England in 2003, led by a 22-year old Graeme Smith. The Proteas managed big wins at Lord's and Leeds, but England too won comfortably at Nottingham and The Oval and the series yielded a 2-2 finish.

South Africa's last visit in 2008, was a successful one for the visitors. It was a four Test series with the first one at Lord's ending in a draw. Fine centuries by AB de Villiers and Ashwell Prince helped the tourists to a comfortable 10-wicket win in the 2nd Test. A combined team effort in the third match meant that South Africa were victorious by 5 wickets to win a series in England for the first time in 43 years. England did salvage some pride by winning the final Test by 6 wickets.

England: There is no doubting the fact that the hosts have in their possession a quality batting line up that has served them well over the past couple of years. However, the form of some of their batsmen in the recent months remains a concern. In the last twelve months, only Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell have averaged more than 50 while the likes of Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior, averaging in the mid to late thirties, have only a few good knocks to boast about. Alastair Cook has contributed his fair share at the top of the order and averages a healthy 44.21. But he too like most of the others, has not been as consistent as his team would have preferred. Looking into England's batting performances in Tests this year, what is seen is even poorer numbers with none of the batsmen averaging more than 40. While England's poor record in Asian conditions could be considered as a reason for the slump in the performance, some of the batsmen were made to work hard against West Indies, who toured England just a few months back. All Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower will be hoping is for the batting department to click as a unit and hold firm against the quality South African attack.

England's bowling department is certainly one of the best the country has ever had. James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Tim Bresnan can be lethal prospects in English conditions while Graeme Swann's crafty abilities as a spinner will also be an important weapon for England. In Steven Finn and Graham Onions, the hosts also have the ideal pace back-up. Strauss will be expecting nothing short of a 100% from his bowlers, and if they do that, the South African batsmen will face some hard times.

Injury scares: Graham Onions is a doubtful starter for the first Test after suffering a groin strain which resulted in him skipping the team's training session on Wednesday morning. Apart from Onions, England do not have any other injury concerns at the moment and they will be hoping it stays the same. Having said that, James Anderson and Tim Bresnan have shown in the recent past that they are prone to injuries and if they do hurt themselves during the series, it will turn out to be a big blow for the home team.

Other factors: The recent events surrounding Kevin Pietersen's retirement from limited overs cricket, his run-ins with the board and the team management's firm attitude could prove to be an invisible factor in the eventual outcome of the series. While England will be hoping to work as a unit, any hostility between the players themselves or between a player and the management, might prove to be detrimental for the home team during the series.

South Africa: The visitors, just like their counterparts, have a world-class batting unit, which is capable of posting big totals on the board. But their lack of match practice might just work in favour of the opposition. South Africa will be playing their first Test after a gap of nearly 4 months and there is a possibility of some of the team members being slightly rusty, as seen during the tour matches against Somerset and Kent. But professionals that they are, the South African players are likely to be back at what they do the best when the Test series begins. As far as the line up is concerned, there is no dearth of quality. Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen form a solid opening pair while the middle order has fine batsmen like Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy apart from the presence of arguably the world's best all-rounder in Jacques Kallis. All these players need to do is to just stick around for some time at the middle for the runs to flow and Smith and Kirsten will be hoping that they do spend a good load of time at the crease.

As far as South Africa's bowling is concerned, they possess a top-class pace attack. Dale Steyn steaming in is always a threatening sight for the batsmen while Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander can also do their fair share with the ball to trouble the batsmen. To match England in the spin department, South Africa have Imran Tahir, who has showed in the past that he can keep the batsmen guessing. All the South African skipper would be asking from his bowlers is to find the right line and lengths, because once they do that, England batsmen will have their tasks cut out.

Injury scares: Barring the unfortunate incident which ruled Mark Boucher out of the tour, South Africa presently do not have any injury concerns. However, Boucher going out means that AB de Villiers might have to keep wickets for most part of the tour, although they do have the option of bringing in Thami Tsolekile to perform the wicket-keeping duties. In case de Villiers does don the keeping gloves, there is a possibility that his batting might take a beating, considering the long hours he might have to spend behind the stumps.

Other factors: What might work out as a positive for South Africa is that Jacques Kallis has not had an effective outing with the bat in England over the years. In all likelihood, this will be his last tour of the Queen's country and he will be pumped up to bring out his best.

Watch out for:

Vernon Philander is currently the freak in the South African bowling line-up. As if the pressure sustained by Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn was not enough for the opposition, they will now have to deal with the accuracy and swing of Philander. His start in Test cricket has been spectacular; he is the second fastest bowler to reach fifty wickets, taking only seven Tests for the milestone. He already has six five wicket hauls and the conditions in England will be ideal for his type of bowling. His first international outing in 2008 against England in the ODI series yielded very little success and that will motivate him to do better this time around.

Stuart Broad has emerged as one of the most reliable all-rounders in the England set-up. His ability to sustain the pressure while bowling and his solid hitting down the order make him a potent force. He has had a wonderful start to the summer this year by picking up 11 wickets in the first Test against the West Indies at Lords. At the Oval, he will be remembered for his game-changing haul of 5/37 against Australia in 2009 which gave the Ashes back to England. South Africa will be wary about the damage Broad can do with both willow and the ball.

Upcoming Milestones:

1: The Oval Test would be the 100th Test for Graeme Smith, making him the sixth South African player to have played 100 or more. (Smith also played one Test for the ICC World XI)

70: Andrew Strauss needs to score 70 more runs to become the 7th England player to score 7000 or more in Test cricket.

Quotes:

It's going to be really important that our bowling attack is in top form because their batting unit is really strong: James Anderson, wants the England bowlers to give their 100%.

As far as preparation is concerned the guys have got exactly what they wanted out of it. It's going to be a fantastic series: Jacques Kallis, expects it to be cracker of a series.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith was delighted by the "perfect" way his side replaced England as the world's number one Test side as they held their nerve in a 51-run win at Lord's on Monday.
Victory gave South Africa the three-match series 2-0 after they'd crushed England by an innings and 12 runs in the first Test across London at The Oval before the second Test in Leeds was drawn.